When God Says No to Quitting: Leslie Dean's Journey from Stay-at-Home Mom to Business Owner Serving the Most Vulnerable

Leslie Dean has tried to quit her photography business more than once. Every time she decided to step away, God made it clear: Not yet.

"Anytime I've decided to put it down, step away, God has said, nope," Dean explains. Even during 2020—when her newborn photography business seemed impossible to continue—she ended up photographing three backyard weddings and matching her previous year's income exactly.

That pattern of divine redirection has defined Dean's entire entrepreneurial journey, from reluctant photographer to birth and postpartum doula now contracted with Kaiser Permanente and positioned to serve some of Colorado's most vulnerable new mothers.

The Business That Wouldn't Go Away

Dean launched her photography business in 2011, focusing on newborns through high school seniors. It started as a natural extension of her lifelong love for taking pictures, but it became something more—a ministry she couldn't escape even when she tried.

The turning point came during her husband's career transition. After years in a position where he was being phased out, he applied to Colorado Christian University almost on a whim. Months passed with no response while his current job deteriorated. Then came the interview call—the only one he received.

"Nobody else was interviewing him, nobody else was calling him back," Dean recalls. He started at CCU a year and a half ago, right as Dean's doula business was beginning to take shape.

Feeling the financial pressure, Dean took a dental office job—she had the background for it, after all. But sitting in that office, she knew it wasn't where she belonged. "I can do this, but I really don't want to do this and I don't want to be here."

The decision to leave required a leap of faith. Her husband had just changed jobs. She was building a brand new doula practice from scratch. Every practical consideration argued for staying put.

It's like every single month I'm not worried because I know God is taking care of us. And in the month of May, I am going to make the most money that I've ever made.

When Photography Becomes Pastoral Care

Dean noticed something happening during her newborn photography sessions—something that went beyond capturing images. She found herself constantly checking in with mothers: How are you doing? How's nursing going? Where are your hormones?

"I was asking a lot of questions like that," she says. The sessions became as much about supporting overwhelmed new parents as about photography.

Then her daughter had a home birth in Tennessee with a midwife and doulas. Dean watched the support team in action and thought: "This is really cool. I want to be part of this. What does this look like in Colorado?"

She came home and discovered that Colorado's doula infrastructure was just beginning to develop. She completed her training three years ago, right at the beginning of what would become a significant expansion of doula services in the state.

The timing, once again, wasn't coincidental.

The Economics of Generosity

Dean initially set her doula prices with a dual mandate: make enough to contribute to household income, but keep costs low enough that families could actually afford the support. Postpartum doula work—helping exhausted parents care for newborns, offering a listening ear, taking night shifts—felt too important to price out of reach.

"The expenses are going everywhere," Dean explains of new parents' financial reality. "This is kind of just a need to—even if they just need to cry or talk or they need to go take a nap."

She wasn't looking for huge returns on postpartum support. Then Kaiser Permanente added her to their in-network doula program.

Suddenly Kaiser was paying her significantly more than her own business rates—and the money came from the insurance company, not from stressed parents' pockets. "I really enjoy that because I can be—I'm not trying to add on to them. I'm not trying to get more visits with them. I'm just literally just doing what I can do for them."

The increased income from Kaiser clients gave Dean freedom to make an unusual decision: she's not raising her rates for private clients. Kaiser will actually pay her more than families who don't have that coverage.

The more income you have, the more you can share. It's what you choose to do with it.

The Ministry Waiting Down the Road

Dean has her eye on another opportunity: Colorado Medicaid's comprehensive doula coverage, which includes prenatal, birth, and postpartum support. That would open the door to working with the Hope Place in Arvada—a center for pregnant teenagers who've been kicked out of their homes.

"They can go and feel safe and validated," Dean says of the center. "By having Medicaid, then I can go through there and I can actually work with these teen moms that are scared and be their support when their moms are not willing."

It's a full-circle moment. The photography business that wouldn't go away led to questions about new mothers' wellbeing. Those questions led to doula training. The training led to Kaiser credentialing. And Kaiser's payment structure is creating financial space to serve the most vulnerable families—teenagers navigating pregnancy without family support.

Each step opened the next door.

The Contract She Wishes She Didn't Need

Dean learned one of her hardest business lessons early in her photography career. She was working with a Christian nonprofit that supports wounded veterans, creating a brochure featuring a young woman who'd lost her leg in Afghanistan. The photo session captured the veteran skiing, playing basketball—thriving with her prosthetic.

Five or six years later, the veteran filed a lawsuit against the organization. Because Dean had taken the photos, she was included in the suit.

"I was able to pull up the contract and say she signed this contract," Dean recalls. "When it went to court, it was dismissed because she signed the contract."

From that moment forward: everyone signs a contract. Photography clients, doula clients—everyone. "I don't ever want to have anything hidden," she explains. Transparency up front, terms in writing, no surprises later.

It's a painful way to learn the lesson, but an essential one for any service business owner.

The Retirement Plan That Looks Like Multiplication

Dean's vision for the future doesn't involve stepping back—it involves stepping up to a different role. She wants to hire other doulas, use her business skills to run operations, and eventually transition away from direct service delivery.

"If I can have enough doulas working it where I'm just working the business, then I can pretty much retire from that," she says.

She's also exploring virtual postpartum visits, expanding her reach beyond clients she can physically visit.

The photography business that started as a hobby, the doula practice that emerged from curiosity, the Kaiser contract that transformed her pricing strategy, the Medicaid opportunity that could open doors to teen moms—all of it points to the same pattern Dean has learned to recognize over thirteen years:

Every time she's tried to walk away from the work, God has said no. And every time she's taken a leap of faith to go deeper into it, He's provided in ways she couldn't have engineered herself.

"I feel like this is definitely a God thing," Dean says simply.

For business owners wondering whether faith and profit can coexist, Dean's story offers a clear answer: they don't just coexist—they multiply each other. The more Kaiser pays her, the more she can afford to serve families who can't pay Kaiser rates. The more income she generates, the closer she gets to serving pregnant teenagers without family support.

The economics of generosity aren't about choosing between financial sustainability and kingdom impact. They're about letting one create space for the other—and trusting that the God who wouldn't let you quit in 2020 isn't going to abandon you in 2025 either.